Why netting on army helmet

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These nets seem to first appear in use by troops in the ETO during the late Fall of and become progressively more common until the end of the war in Europe. The Camouflage Factories of the U.

Section No. Thus, American planners were forced to look to alternative sources of netting to to make up for this deficit. These nets were initially intended as larger nets for use in concealment of equipment. Why were Shrimp Nets cut up and used as helmet nets? To quote Report No. They become too shiny under the mud and dust of field conditions, and when seen from the air a shrimp net was the most conspicuous object in the region.

Simply put, they were ineffective as large area covering nets. The use of shrimp nets as camouflage for vehicles and large emplacements was soon ordered to be curtailed in the ETO. This netting provided ample stock of material to repurpose into helmet nets, and or lack of constructive uses for the shrimp netting the Army even tried painting the nets white and using them as snow camouflage, without success.

The salvaging on these nets into helmet nets was not merely intended as a means of conservation of material, but also served the US Army Corps of Engineers goal of equipping units in the field with helmet netting. Unfortunately, the numbers we have are incomplete and, in at least one case, ambiguous. Our research attempts to formulate reasonable assumptions based on the limited information available. Thus, by the end of at least 1,, Shrimp Nets, total, were provided to the US by the British.

Given the thoroughness of the rest of the document, the ambiguity of the reference may explained a number of ways, including:. These nets were dyed a solid color that varied in shade from khaki tan to dark olive green.

The Mk. When those in the Army concerned with a solution for camouflaging the M-1 helmet decided that netting was the best solution, they needed to pick the best net for the job. The Army Ground Forces performed field tests on various types of netting material in order to make this decision. The British Mk. Big Red Says! Catalog Expand submenu Catalog Collapse submenu Catalog.